The following sentence has been divided into parts. One of them may contain an error. Select the part that contains the error from the given options. If you don’t find any error, mark ‘No error’ as your answer. Vidya put on her mask, / sanitize her hands / and walked into the shop.
sanitize her hands
Analyzing the Sentence for Grammatical Errors
The question asks us to identify a part of the sentence that contains a grammatical error. The sentence is: "Vidya put on her mask, / sanitize her hands / and walked into the shop." It is divided into three parts:
- Vidya put on her mask
- sanitize her hands
- and walked into the shop
Identifying Verb Tense and Parallel Structure
Let's look at the main verbs or verb phrases in each part:
- Part 1: "put on"
- Part 2: "sanitize"
- Part 3: "walked"
The sentence describes a sequence of actions that Vidya performed. These actions occurred in the past. When listing a series of actions or items, they should generally follow the same grammatical structure, especially in terms of verb tense. This is known as parallel structure or parallelism.
Let's check the tense of each verb:
- "put on" - This is the simple past tense of "put on". Although the base form and past tense of "put" are the same, "put on" in this context clearly refers to a past action.
- "sanitize" - This is the base form of the verb "to sanitize".
- "walked" - This is the simple past tense of "walk".
We can see that the first and third parts of the sentence use verbs in the past tense ("put on", "walked"), while the second part uses the base form of the verb ("sanitize"). For the sentence to maintain parallel structure and consistency in tense for a sequence of past actions, all the verbs should be in the past tense.
Locating the Error in the Sentence Parts
Comparing the verbs, it's clear that "sanitize" does not match the tense of "put on" and "walked". To correct the sentence, "sanitize" should be changed to its past tense form, "sanitized".
Therefore, the part that contains the error is "sanitize her hands".
Analyzing the Options
Let's examine the given options:
- Option 1:
Vidya put on her mask
- This part is grammatically correct. "put on" is used as a past tense verb here. - Option 2:
sanitize her hands
- This part contains the verb "sanitize" which should be in the past tense ("sanitized") to match the other verbs in the sentence. This is the part with the error. - Option 3:
No error
- There is an error in the sentence, so this option is incorrect. - Option 4:
and walked into the shop
- This part is grammatically correct. "walked" is in the simple past tense.
Based on the analysis, the part containing the error is "sanitize her hands".
| Sentence Part | Verb/Phrase | Tense/Form | Correct? | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vidya put on her mask | put on | Simple Past | Yes | Consistent with past action. |
| sanitize her hands | sanitize | Base Form | No | Should be past tense ('sanitized') for parallelism. |
| and walked into the shop | walked | Simple Past | Yes | Consistent with past action. |
Conclusion on the Sentence Error
The error lies in the inconsistency of verb tense among the listed actions. The verbs in a series of parallel actions should have the same form or tense. The part "sanitize her hands" needs the verb "sanitize" to be in the past tense form "sanitized".
Revision Table: Key Grammar Concepts
| Concept | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel Structure | Using the same grammatical form for two or more elements in a series or list. | Incorrect: She likes to swim, running, and to cycle. Correct: She likes swimming, running, and cycling. OR She likes to swim, to run, and to cycle. |
| Verb Tense Consistency | Maintaining the same verb tense throughout a sentence or passage when referring to actions happening at the same time or in the same sequence. | Incorrect: He went to the store and buys milk. Correct: He went to the store and bought milk. |
| Simple Past Tense | Used for actions that happened at a specific time in the past. Often formed by adding '-ed' to the base verb, but many irregular verbs exist. | play → played walk → walked go → went put → put |
Additional Information on Parallelism and Verbs
Understanding parallel structure is crucial for clear and grammatically correct writing. It applies not only to verbs but also to nouns, adjectives, adverbs, phrases, and clauses when they are listed or compared.
In the given sentence, the conjunction "and" connects the actions, requiring them to be parallel in structure and tense. Since "put on" and "walked" are in the simple past tense, "sanitize" must also be in the simple past tense ("sanitized") to maintain parallelism.
Let's look at more examples of parallel structure with verbs:
- Correct: He ran, jumped, and shouted. (All simple past)
- Incorrect: She is running and jumped. (Present participle vs. simple past)
- Correct: She is running and jumping. (Both present participles)
- Correct: He wants to read and to write. (Both infinitives)
- Incorrect: He wants to read and writing. (Infinitive vs. gerund)
Maintaining verb tense consistency helps the reader understand when actions occurred. Switching tenses unnecessarily can be confusing. The error in the original sentence is a common mistake related to maintaining this consistency and parallel form in a series of past actions.
Important Questions from Error Spotting
Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
A honest mistake (a) / is no more than that; (b) / just an honest mistake. (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
A company of five thousand soldiers , (a) / having marched tirelessly for over five days , (b) / have just moved into their cantonment . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
Every person who believes in principles (a) / must stand up to fight (b) / for their convictions . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
The Olympic Games reflects(a) / the highest spirit of (b) / human endeavour and achievement . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
The principal of the school (a) / stressed the need for discipline (b) / amongst the students. (c) / No error (d)
